


Petals of Blood

by AU_Queen



Series: RWBY Rare Pair Week 2018 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Apollo!Jaune, Archester - Freeform, Blood and Gore, Day One, Fluff, M/M, Zephyrus!Mercury, artemis!weiss, bully buds, greek mythology rewrite, hycanthus!cardin, i mess with the rwby genealogies a bit, jaune flirts, mentioned aphrodite!ilia, mentioned hera!salem, mentioned zeus!ozpin, myths, rwby rare pair week, rwbyrarepairweek, ship name:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-07 09:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15905403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AU_Queen/pseuds/AU_Queen
Summary: There the youth lay, prone and bleeding. A beautiful bloom curled away from his head, its roots planted firmly in the blood that so wondrously and painfully matched the crimson that tipped its petals. Speckles of blue danced their way from cold, unseeing eyes to grace the face of the auburn flower. Softly glowing letters sang a lament on each petals surface. By its side sat a god, his tears melding with the blood that flowed due to his hand. Silent sobs racked across his body, sending trembles through to his very core.





	Petals of Blood

There the youth lay, prone and bleeding. A beautiful bloom curled away from his head, its roots planted firmly in the blood that so wondrously and painfully matched the crimson that tipped its petals. Speckles of blue danced their way from cold, unseeing eyes to grace the face of the auburn flower. Softly glowing letters sang a lament on each petals surface. By its side sat a god, his tears melding with the blood that flowed due to his hand. Silent sobs racked across his body, sending trembles through to his very core.

 

~~~~

 

He was beautiful. The most beautiful human male ever born, Jaune was sure of it. The god watched him from his perch in the tree, admired how his sun fractured off the mortal’s hair to show the reds and browns that made the auburn tone. Deep indigo eyes flashed, the amusement contrasting deeply with his frowning lips. The boy seemed to be in a heated argument with someone, though Jaune was too focused on the sound of his voice to be able to hear any of the words.

“And you up there, what are you doing watching us? I’ll come up there and show you not to spy!” the boy’s voice, now angrily directed at him, broke him out of his reverie. A faint sound of an admonishing “Cardin” barely traced the edge of his mind.

“I'm sorry, I was just so awestruck by your beauty,” Jaune told him as he climbed down the tree. The boy’s deep blush and wide eyes at his words distracted him enough to make him lose his footing on the last branch and tumble the last few inches to the ground. A pained noise fell from his lips as his back roughly collided with the dirt.

“Are you okay?” The boy was suddenly in front of him, a hand stretched down in invitation. Jaune tried for a cheeky grin and wink that felt more like a pained grin and wink. Either way, it had the desired effect of the other male blushing lightly with a scoff. He took the offered hand and the boy pulled him to his feet.

“I’m Jaune,” Jaune told him without releasing his grip on the boy’s hand.

“Cardin,” the boy roughly told him in reply while attempting to pull his hand away. With a smile Jaune released him, but his momentum made him fall backward. Jaune quickly grabbed his waist before his butt could meet the ground. Cardin pushed away from him when Jaune smiled and waggled his eyebrows up and down. “Thanks,” he mumbled as he brushed himself off.

“No need to thank me for saving a piece of art from being damaged,” Jaune drawled and winked, causing the blush to return to Cardin’s cheeks. It warmed his heart when Cardin tried to hide it with a dark glare.

“His hair,” the voice from before whispered, breaking the moment, and Jaune turned to her in confusion. Worry swam in her warm, brown eyes. What about his hair? He turned his eyes upwards to glance at the strands that fell over his face and thought back to his appearance in the water that morning. His hair flowed out from his head like it was caught in a breeze no one else could feel, and each strand glowed with its own light. But that wasn’t odd. Not for the sun god. “I think he’s,” she paused for a swallow, “Cardin, I think he’s the sun god.” Not odd, unless they were human. And humans didn't generally have actual glowing hair.  _ Shit _ . How did he keep forgetting that?

“Ah, yes I am,” Jaune said and his hand moved to rub the back of his neck. He hated it when mortals didn’t immediately know his identity. It always made things feel so awkward. Cardin looked between him and the girl a few times, his eyes wide in confusion.

“There’s no way,” Cardin finally scoffed. “Not this clumsy weirdo.”

“Weirdo?” Jaune repeated, his voice high with offence.

“Yeah,” Cardin said, and when Jaune glared at him Cardin continued, “You were the one creepily watching us from a tree.”

Jaune opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when Cardin raised his eyebrows in challenge. Finally he sighed. “I wouldn’t exactly call it creepy,” he muttered under his breath, arms crossed and pout on his lips.

“So you really think it's him?” Cardin turned a faint, disbelieving stare to his friend.

She nodded immediately. “Trust me, Car. It's him.”

“I do,” he turned back to the now-exposed god. “So what do you want down here, away from your perch in-” there was a slight pause as Cardin realized he didn't quite know where the deities normally ‘hung out’, “wherever it is you perch?”

“Like I said,” Jaune chuckled awkwardly and ran his hand through his hair, causing the light to dissipate in a series of sparkles like glitter falling away from the blonde locks, “I was awestruck by your beauty and had to meet you.”

“Why? You're a god, why would you possibly want to meet me?” Cardin asked, arms crossed tightly across his chest and an annoyed look planted on his face.

“I-” Jaune started, then glanced behind him to the girl who was giving him a similar look, “I just told you?”

“Sure you did, but you have to have a better reason. An ulterior motive,” Cardin glared at him, eyebrow raised.

Jaune rocked back on his heels and popped his lips, “Nope. I honestly just thought you were pretty.” The god shrugged when Cardin’s expression shifted to incredulous.

“Seriously?” Jaune nodded, but Cardin refused to believe it, “There's no way.”

“I’m telling the truth,” Jaune told him honestly. Still, Cardin wouldn’t listen. He only rolled his eyes and hefted a sigh.

“Leave,” he ordered the god. Jaune seemed surprised at the order, but he turned away before he saw the surprise morph into something softer, sadder.

“Cardin!” Velvet admonished, but Cardin ignored her and walked back inside. Velvet sighed, vaguely annoyed. But she was used to her friend’s actions and knew there was a reason for this. “I’m sorry.” She told the god with an awkward smile before following after Cardin.

 

“What was that?” Velvet asked him, gesturing to the door that led outside.

“He was a creep!” Cardin told her, like it was obvious.

“He was cute!”

“He was watching us from a tree!” Cardin frowned at her, and she had to admit; he had a point.

“Fine,” Velvet sighed and rolled her eyes, her head dramatically following the movement.

“Good.”

And it was dropped. Until the next day.

 

The next day there was a knock at the door as Cardin and Velvet were having a conversation. They ignored it at first. But the knocking became insistent, so Velvet removed herself from the couch to answer the door. Cardin was right behind her when she cracked the door open to a sliver of glowing, blonde hair and a hopeful blue eye. Velvet opened the door fully, and there stood Jaune. He wore the same dark orange tunic as yesterday, light brown belt tied around his waist. In his hand he held a woven basket with a blue blanket covering the top.

“Oh, Ozpin”-he ignored Jaune's quiet ‘it's Jaune, actually- “not you again.”

“I wanted to apologize. For the other day.”

“You mean when you climbed my tree to stalk us?” Cardin frowned deeply, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

“Yes- I mean no!” Jaune corrected himself. “Like I said yesterday, I was merely struck by your beauty. I realize now that my approach wasn't… the best.”

“Yeah,” Cardin scoffed.

“Will you let me make it up to you?” Jaune asked with a small, hopeful smile. He held up the basket, “I brought a picnic.” When Cardin turned to Velvet, he was met with an equal smile. With a light sigh, he nodded in agreement. Velvet would swear it got brighter outside after Cardin agreed.

“I swear to you, you will not regret this!” Jaune told him as he grabbed his hand to drag him away.

“I better not,” Cardin murmured under his breath. His last glance at Velvet was her at the door, waving like a proud mother. He glared and mouthed ‘I’m going to kill you when I get back’ at her, but it only made her smile harder.

 

Jaune led him far from his house, oblivious to Cardin patting his shin to ensure himself his knife was still there. He knew it’d likely do nothing to the god except maybe anger him, but it comforted him to know it was there while a weirdo dragged him around. When they finally stopped they were in a field to the west. Even Cardin had to admit the flower laden field was nice, and the sun shone down warmly on them as a cool breeze fluttered the flower petals.

“Is this a good place?” Jaune asked, even as he shook out the blanket to lay on the ground.

“Yeah,” Cardin nodded distractedly. He almost felt like someone was watching them, but he shrugged it off. Probably just the weirdness of hanging out with a god.

“That’s good.” There was a smile in the god’s voice, and Cardin couldn’t keep himself from half-mimicking it. “So, would you like to sit?” Jaune gestured to the blanket when Cardin turned back to him. His eyes shone brightly, the hue matching the sky behind him, and Cardin could feel his breath catch in his throat for a second. The god really was cute, even if he was weird.

“Cardin?” Jaune frowned at him, and Cardin blushed as he realized he was staring.

“Nothing,” Cardin rumbled as he sat heavily. Jaune amusedly looked at him, but said nothing. There was a silence for a while as Jaune unpacked the lunch he had brought for them. The silence persisted while they ate, and while Cardin was normally quite comfortable with the silence he didn’t like it at this moment. Especially since Jaune was currently staring at him, sandwich seemingly forgotten even as he held it. With a breath, he diffused the tension in his own body before diffusing the awkward air. “What’s it like being a god?”

“Hm?” Jaune blinked at him. Just as Cardin was about to repeat himself, Jaune’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh! Yes. It’s,” Jaune trailed off. “Well, it’s interesting. Salem doesn’t like me much, though dad did have me with someone else so…” He paused, a somber, far off look in his eyes before he snapped out of it. Cardin took note. “But my sister’s pretty cool! When she’s not beating me up.” Jaune actually smiled at that, and it had Cardin smiling to.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Velvet’s the same way.”

“You mean the girl who was with you?” Jaune asked.

“Yeah,” Cardin rubbed his arm, “Guess you didn’t actually get introduced to her, did you?”

“Not really.” Jaune agreed before flashing him a grin, “I was too preoccupied with you. Are you sure you’re not a god, by the way? Cause you look like one of Ilia’s children.” Cardin frowned with a small blush at the flirtation.

“How about we drop the flirting for the moment,” Cardin told him.

“Sorry,” Jaune looked down, “Weiss says I have a tendency of ‘trying too hard’ when I like someone.”

“You do,” Cardin told him with a bark of laughter that caused Jaune to look back up with a frown. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re not completely terrible. But you do them too often.”

“Oh,” Jaune looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. “Guess I’ll just have to try keeping them to a few a date?”

“Are you implying that there’s gonna be another?” Cardin raised an eyebrow.

“Am I pushing my luck?” There was a tentative spark of hope in Jaune’s eyes.

“We’ll see,” Cardin told him and took a sip of his drink.

 

Jaune had to go a few minutes after that, and Cardin desperately wanted to push his disappointment at that down into a hidden corner of his brain and never think about it again. Instead he simply lingered on it during his walk home.

“Hey~” A deep, flirty voice sounded directly next to his ear, making him jump.

“What the hell!” Cardin angrily turned to the boy who appeared suddenly next to him.

“I want you to be mine,” the boy told him and he just barely suppressed his shudder.

“And I want some distance between us,” Cardin said as he roughly pushed him away.

“Oh, you’re rough,” the boy smirked, a cold, harsh thing, “I like that.” Cardin didn’t respond to that one. Instead, he turned and continued walking. 

“I’m a god, you know.” The voice floated up next to his ear. Cardin wanted to punch him, but he held himself back. It would do no good, punching a god. It’d likely only hurt his own hand.

“I already have a boyfriend,” Cardin said.

“But I’m better,” the boy purred.

“Not better than the sun god,” Cardin said with confidence. For a fleeting moment he hoped Jaune didn’t hear him. Their first date had gone well, and he certainly wasn’t going to deny him a second date. But his words sounded like a confession to his own ears, and he wasn’t prepared for that. Not when he hardly knew the guy. Still, he wouldn’t take back the words if Jaune had heard him. A hand on his arm pulled him back and he was spun around to look into the grey eyes of the boy.  _ No, god. _ Cardin corrected himself as he watched the god’s grey hair float angrily around his head.

“I am Mercury, the West Wind. I am better than Jaune and you would do well to take my offer and become mine,” the god spoke lowly, but his voice radiated in the suddenly still air. A spike of fear seemed to drive itself into Cardin’s foot at the look in the god’s eyes. Daring him to object. To deny him what he wanted.

Well, if there was one thing that pissed people off, it was his habit of going against what they wanted. He took a breath to calm himself, before rearing back his fist and punching the god square in the face. The god stumbled back; Cardin wasn’t sure if it was because of surprise or if his hit had actually hurt the god. Either way, he didn’t have the time to contemplate it. Cardin seized his opportunity and ran.

When he got back to his house, his hand was throbbing. Velvet met him at the door, a teasing smile on her lips. But the smile faded to concern when he silently brushed past her.

“Cardin? What did he do?” Velvet asked him, “Do I need to beat him up?”

“You can’t beat him up, he’s a god,” Cardin told her with a bark of laughter.

“I can try.” Velvet crossed her arms over her chest. “So?”

“It wasn’t him,” Cardin sighed. “He was actually fairly, nice. Mercury, on the other hand, was terrible.”

“Mercury!” Velvet’s mouth dropped in her surprise. “What was he doing there?”

“We were in a field to the West,” Cardin told her as he rubbed his hand. Velvet moved to get a cold bag for him. “He must have spotted us.”

“And what did he say?” She asked him as she placed the bag on his hand, and he looked at her gratefully.

“He told me he wanted me to become his.” Velvet silently raised her eyebrows, and he answered the unspoken question in her expression, “I punched him.”

“Good.” She nodded.

“Except now my hand feels numb.” He paused for a minute, just letting the cold rest on his throbbing hand. “Worth it,” he whispered.

 

When Jaune returned the next day, Cardin’s hand was better, though it still felt a little sore. Jaune healed it with a soft touch when he noticed the bruises that had formed during the night. A perk of having the affection of the god of healing, Cardin supposed.

“So how did this happen?” Jaune asked them when he released Cardin’s hand.

“He punched Mercury,” Velvet answered with a note of pride in her voice.

“Mercury,” a light flashed brightly in Jaune’s eyes for a split second before he looked curiously at Cardin and smiled. “You punched the West Wind?”

Cardin shrugged, “He was being a dick.”

“He is often a dick,” Jaune laughed, and it sounded like a bell. When he sobered, a gentle smile lingered on his face, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Cardin smiled and nodded in agreement. A long minute of silence followed, their gazes lingering on each other. It felt like an eternity and something in Cardin didn’t want it to end. From how Jaune was looking at him, he wasn’t alone. Then Velvet loudly cleared her throat. The two backed away-  _ when did we get so close? _ \- and Cardin felt his face heat. His hand went to the pendant that hung around his neck to twirl it around his fingers. He was unsurprised to see Velvet’s cheeky smile when he turned to her.

“So, boys, should I leave you two alone, or…” She trailed off with a wink in Cardin’s direction.

“No!” Jaune answered too loudly, causing Velvet to snicker, “I mean, we'll be fine. Right?” He directed his question to Cardin. When Cardin glanced his way, he saw the god looked as red as he felt.

“Yes. Yeah.” Cardin nodded stiffly.

“If you're sure.” Velvet smirked. She waggled her eyebrows when Cardin frowned at her.

“Did you have a place in mind to go?” Cardin asked Jaune, ignoring Velvet’s whistle.

“Uh, yeah.” Jaune swallowed awkwardly.

“Let's go,” Cardin said and grabbed his hand to pull him from the house.

“Don't forget protection!” Velvet called after them.

 

A week of dates went by. Sometimes, when they were out Cardin could feel a warm westerly wind. He’d ignore it every time, but that never stopped it from grating on his nerves. He was never a patient guy. Part of him was surprised it’d taken him this long. But he did finally snap one day.

“Alright, Mercury. I know you’re there come out and face me!” Cardin yelled at the sky. A moment later, a warm breeze drifted by.

“Cardin.” The voice came from behind him. It was gentler than it was that first encounter.

“What do you want?” Cardin turned around to face the god, arms crossed over his chest.

“Is your hand okay?” Mercury asked instead of answering the question.

“No thanks to you,” Cardin scoffed.

“I didn’t make you punch me,” Mercury told him easily. Calmly.

“You deserved it.” Cardin glared at him.

“Didn’t say I didn’t. I wanted to apologize, by the way. My approach wasn’t… the best,” Mercury told him.

“What made you think that?” Cardin replied, “So, what do you want?”

“I just told you,” Mercury frowned, “I wanted to apologize. And ask if you had thought over my offer?”

“Offer?” Cardin repeated. “That wasn’t an offer; that was a demand. And I don’t do well with those.”

“Yes, I know,” Mercury told him and lifted a hand to run at his chin. Cardin took smug pride seeing that his punch apparently  _ had _ affected the god. “So I take that as a no?”

“You can take it as a never.”

“I see.” Mercury looked away. “I can’t change your mind?”

“No.” Cardin shook his head. He was happy with Jaune, and he couldn’t see that changing anytime soon. Even if it did, Mercury would be the last guy he’d be with.

“Have a good life, then,” Mercury told him before he simply disappeared.

Cardin frowned at the spot Mercury had just been. That wasn’t what he had expected to happen. He had expect some form of godly anger. Maybe a punch in retaliation to the one he’d given that first time. Not acceptance. That seemed just a shade too easy. But, he didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. When he told Velvet what had happened later that night, she agreed.

 

More dates went by after that. Occasionally Cardin would sense something watching them, or a streak of grey would cross the skies. It was easier to ignore as time went on, though. Jaune had an almost magnetic property about him that drew Cardin’s attention to him. Velvet complained about it on a number of occasions, though it was always in good spirit. Even a magnetic field couldn’t truly get Cardin to ignore her, and all three of them knew it.

Jaune and Cardin were sitting on a log in the forest, weeks from that first date, when Jaune turned to him. There was a look in his eye, the blue shining. Cardin had learned that look early on. He knew it meant Jaune wanted something, though he could never seem to guess what it was.

“What is it?” Cardin asked him.

“I want to kiss you.” Jaune replied without a moment of hesitation.

“Oh, really?” Cardin asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Am I pushing my luck?” Jaune smiled, a barely there lift to the corners of his lips.

“We’ll see,” Cardin wet his lower lip as his eyes glanced to Jaune’s mouth. Jaune nodded and leaned in closer.

“Is this okay?” Jaune breathed. They were close enough that he could feel Cardin’s breath on his face.

“Just kiss me before I do it,” Cardin breathed back. There was a low chuckle from Jaune, then warm lips were on his. It would be too poetic for Cardin to say it felt like he was kissing a sunny day when Jaune’s lips met his. But he wasn’t saying it, and his thoughts were his alone. 

Kissing Jaune felt like he was kissing a sunny day. When Jaune brought his hands up to rest on his shoulders, Cardin felt warm points of contact on his freckled skin. His hands came up to rest on Jaune’s hips, and he found more warmth there. Honestly, it shouldn’t surprise him. This was the sun god he was kissing. That thought felt weirdly strange to him. Kissing the sun god. Yet, the strangest thing to him was how right that thought was. How right it felt to be there, just barely pressing their lips together. Hands resting gently on each other.

Finally, Cardin had to breath. He didn’t go far when he pulled away, though. Just far enough that he could rest his forehead against Jaune’s. A smile was on Jaune’s face, and Cardin knew it matched his own.

“That was nice,” Jaune whispered and Cardin chuckled.

“Yeah, it was.”

They didn’t notice the grey cloud move in from the west as they sat there, basking in the warmth of each other.

 

They were at the field where the had their first date when it happened. A year had gone by, and to celebrate Jaune brought a picnic lunch and Cardin brought two discus. Thinking back on it, Jaune doesn’t know what possessed him to go there for their anniversary instead of anywhere else.

It was quiet that day. The air was still and warm. But the air was often warm around them, Jaune happily providing his lover with the sun’s heat. Cardin was teaching Jaune how to throw a discus.Jaune didn’t tell him that Weiss had already taught him how to play discus. The feeling of Cardin against him, Cardin’s hand guiding his own, was too great of a pleasure and he was too selfish to ignore its allure. But that was how it was with almost anything the mortal did. Sometimes Jaune felt convinced Cardin was the son of a siren.

Cardin had backed away from him a few feet, confident that he could throw it on his own now. When Jaune had suggested the possibility of a competition, Cardin had laughed.

“You may be a god, but I doubt you’d be able to beat me with a scrawny body like that,” Cardin told him. Jaune chuckled at that.  _ I’ll show him I can beat him just fine _ . As he got into throwing position, he couldn’t help but think about that thought. It was a strange thing for a god, this desperate need to impress a mortal. But that was simply the effect Cardin had on him. He drew back, and flung the discus with all his might.

Neither of them were prepared for the sudden gust of strong wind as the discus flew out of Jaune’s hand.

The scream that stuck in Jaune’s throat just as his feet seemed to glue themselves to the grass. It wasn’t for a few seconds after a resounding  _ thunk _ traveled through the once again still air that he was able to move. Then he was running to where Cardin had collapsed.

~~~

 

The sound of the discus hitting Cardin’s skull still rang in Jaune’s ears despite it happening minutes earlier. To him, it still felt like seconds had gone by.

Just moments ago Cardin was laughing, joy glinting in his eyes. Now Cardin’s head sat in his lap, eyes staring unblinking at the sky. A pale hand came into view and gently closed his lover’s eyes. Jaune didn’t have to turn to know who it was as a body sat next to him. And when she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, he leaned into her without a thought.

“It’s not your fault.” Her voice was gentle and kind. Part of him hated it, while the other part of him knew that was what he needed.  _ No, _ his mind told him,  _ what you need is Cardin. Alive. _ But it was too late.

“Yes it is,” he croaked out. She shushed him, hand rubbing his arm.

“Please, brother, it was not your fault.” When he refused to acknowledge her, she gently removed Cardin’s head from his lap and turned him toward her. “It really isn’t.”

He buried his head into her chest then and wept. She continued to comfort him until he calmed down minutes later. When he was done, he went to tell Velvet. He didn’t think he had anymore tears to spare, but when she broke down and mourned loss of her brother he cried with her. They spent a long time, holding each other and weeping.

Before he left, he had tried to give Velvet the flower that his magic had created from Cardin. She had simply smiled sadly, and pushed it back into his hands.”He would have wanted you to keep it.” He returned her sad smile, and before he left she caught his shirt. “Take good care of that, alright?”

“I will.” He told her truthfully. Then she let go, and he was off.

The next day, he covered that field with the new type of flower. As the years went on it spread, and some would pick it. It would end up in people’s houses and gardens. In people’s hair and in bouquets. It warmed Jaune, in a sad kind of way, to see how people seemed to love it, just as he had loved the person the type had originally been. To see it spread through the world. 

The original flower stayed with Jaune, though. Right where it belonged. And he was always sure to care for it.


End file.
